A quiet and yet powerful dairy co-op movement is unfolding in the north eastern state of Meghalaya with the help of co-op lender NCDC which, earlier funded the Meghalaya Milk Mission in the state.
A Stakeholder Consultation on Capacity Building Programmes under Milk Mission was held in Shillong last week, in which deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong was the Chief Guest and NCDC MD Sundeep Nayak and Meghalaya Farmers’ Commission chairman K.N. Kumar, among others participated.
“We aim to focus on capacity building of dairy farmers and NCDC (LINAC) has ambitious plan to train them in modern techniques of dairy-farming and marketing and value addition of dairy products”, said NCDC MD Nayak on the phone from Shillong.
Elaborating it further, in a telephonic communication with Indian Cooperative, Meghalaya Farmers’ Commission chairman K.N. Kumar said, “The milk mission will play an important role in generating rural employment. The market for milk in Meghalaya is high, especially in urban areas and we see the mission as a game changer in the dairy sector.
“Our focus is not so much on increasing the number of dairy cooperatives as much in strengthening the already existing ones. NCDC plays an important role in imparting training to the members of dairy cooperatives, he added.
We are procuring over 14000 litre per day from over 100 dairy cooperatives, Kumar informed. Kumar said the Milk Mission, which was launched last year with a loan from the National Cooperative Development Corporation amounting to Rs 2.20 crore, has led to the creation of 68 new cooperative societies.
Kumar said in the last 48 years of the formation of the state, only 38 dairy cooperatives were created. However, with the launch of the Milk Mission, 68 new cooperative societies have been established in the past year alone.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Guest Meghalaya deputy chief minister Prestone Tynsong said the state is going to establish a cattle feed mill with an initial capacity of 150 tonnes per day and a ranch to boost its milk production.
The mill is the first of its kind in the Northeast, will supply all the states of the region with feed. According to the deputy chief minister, the cattle ranch will be established in South West Khasi Hills.
The stakeholder consultation on capacity building program under milk mission was jointly organized by Meghalaya Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Dept and NCDC (LINAC).
